A Tennessee firm is accused of illegally employing more than a dozen children to work overnight shifts cleaning a Perdue poultry processing plant on the Eastern Shore.

The U.S. Labor Department found that Fayette Janitorial hired 15 minors, some only 13, to operate hazardous equipment at Perdue's Accomac poultry plant. At least one 14-year-old at the plant was severely injured on the job.

The federal agency asked the courts this week to issue a restraining order to stop the company from employing children while investigations continue.

A spokesperson for Perdue said in an email the company terminated its contract with Fayette Janitorial before the Department of Labor took legal action this week. 

“Underage labor has no place in our business or our industry,” the company’s statement read. “Perdue has strong safeguards in place to ensure that all associates are legally eligible to work in our facilities — and we expect the same of our vendors.”

Federal law prohibits minors from working in slaughterhouses — the work is considered too hazardous. At the Perdue plant, children working under the Fayette contract cleaned equipment including head splitters, jaw pullers, meat bandsaws and neck clippers, the Department of Labor said.

Last year, the Department of Labor started a probe into child labor violations at Perdue and Tyson’s Food plants, both of which are major employers on the Eastern Shore and among the largest poultry producers in the country. 

It was prompted by a report of a 14-year-old boy at the Accomac Perdue plant whose arm was nearly torn off while cleaning. It’s not clear if he is the same boy referenced in the most recent Labor Department filing.

“As we’ve unfortunately seen in this case, employers’ violations of federal child labor laws have real consequences on children’s lives,” said Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman. “Our actions to stop these violations will help ensure that more children are not hurt in the future.”

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